Fitting a collar

[simba]

How do you fit a collar?

 

I always thought it was two fingers fit snugly side-by-side under the collar, or three fingers flat against the dog's neck. Does that depend on the size of your hands- would someone with small hands have to measure an extra finger's worth or something?

And how do you account for loose skin or fat rolls on a dog that's overweight or who has lost weight? Or for lots of fur?

 

 

What can happen with a collar that's too tight or too loose? Aside from the obvious, that a dog can slip a collar and get loose when on lead.

[Gideon's girl]

If a collar is too tight then it will be come imbedded in the skin and the dog will have an open sore all the way around its neck.

 

To fit a buckle collar, I adjust it to what I think is an appropriate size not on the dog and then try to slide it over the dogs head. If it goes over, it's too loose. If it won't go over the dogs head but seems like it's very close, I make note of how tight I have it adjusted, open it and put it on the dog, tightened to that adjustment. Then I very gently see if I can work it off by working one ear out at a time,If I can't then I consider that a perfect adjustment.

 

For a training collar or any collar that is meant to slip over the head, I get the smallest one that will go over the head. I want to have to gently work it off one ear at a time to remove it.

 

I do not leave collars on unsupervised animals and especially puppies. If you leave a properly adjusted collar on a puppy, the size MUST be check daily and adjusted as needed.

[simba]

Full disclosure- a friend of mine, who loves dogs and who dogs love, has been giving out to me recently about my dog's collar, and re-adjusting it. I always thought that if a collar was loose it was more likely to get caught on something: it's the law here to have a collar and tag, and I'm paranoid about having identification on the dog all the time.

 

But she says that, adjusted to the method I described (except 3 fingers wide and 4 under the collar), it's choking the dog.

I think it's just the appearance of the loose skin, and that it's more dangerous to have it so loose it can slip over the dog's head (since the dog has a habit of backing out of collars). But then this person's been a dog owner a lot longer than I have, and they're getting quite upset over it, so I'm second-guessing myself.

 

I looked it up in a few places and all I could find was the method I was using, that's why I asked- I'll go try yours tonight. Thank you for the advice. Maybe it'll give me more slack.

[G. Festerling]

Darn, I suppose mine have been chocking for many years then. Especially on their preventic collars.

[simba]

Darn, I suppose mine have been chocking for many years then. Especially on their preventic collars.

 

I was afraid I was going to come on here and everyone would say 'You're using that method? Everyone knows that's much too tight, and causes horrible problems.' Which is why I asked, really. You don't want to be doing the wrong thing and not know about it.

 

Of course, there's still time.

[waffles]

Use your common sense. Which it sounds like you are! Don't let your friend make you feel bad-lots of people have owned dogs for years yet they are not very knowledgeable owners on many things dog related (not that I am saying your friend is this way). Think about if you were putting a bracelet or watch on yourself. You don't want it so tight that you feel it squeezing your skin or too loose it will fall off. Same thing for a dog. You don't want it too loose it slips over the dogs head with a little tug or too tight that it's very fitted to their skin. If you worry about your dog slipping its collar I would suggest using a martingale or a slip lead (as long as your dog has leash manners). I use a slip lead because I don't like fishing through my dogs fur for the ring, fumbling with clips while wearing mittens, and enjoy the one handed application plus, there is no chance my dog can slip his collar and be loose with no ID tags.

[G. Festerling]

My dogs are certain to tell you that I have done plenty of things wrong and am bound to do more in the future while being blissfully unaware of it.

It is a wonderful road to travel and to learn. Never close off your mind but also, don't let others bully you either.

[simba]

If you worry about your dog slipping its collar I would suggest using a martingale or a slip lead (as long as your dog has leash manners). I use a slip lead because I don't like fishing through my dogs fur for the ring, fumbling with clips while wearing mittens, and enjoy the one handed application plus, there is no chance my dog can slip his collar and be loose with no ID tags.

 

She's never slipped her lead adjusted the way I was doing it before, but she does when it's re-adjusted. I'd prefer to have her unable to slip her collar on the ordinary lead, not because I don't like slip leads (I have one and she walks well on it), but because all the family walk her, and they're used to the ordinary one.

 

I know, G.Festerling, everyone makes mistakes, but if (god forbid) her collar injured or hurt her because I fit it wrong...

[Gideon's girl]

You'd have to have it quite tight for it to hurt her in any way. The only times I've seen someone have a collar that tight have been with growing puppies that the owners just put out in the yard and didn't interact with, so they never realized that the pup had grown too big. You're friend is no expert and you would know if you were choking your dog, it would gag, cough, and vomit. A closer fitting collar is safer, because it is less likely to get caught on something and the dog is less likely to slip out of it in traffic and get hit.

[bcnewe2]

I guess I'm doing it all wrong. I like my dogs to be able to slip their collars if they get caught or tumbling around playing and get tangled. But I don't have to put my dogs on leashes where they could get hurt if they slip them. Mine are so used to being with me that they have never tried to slip a collar in fear or whatever. I worry more about them getting caught in a fence or gate.

I really think its personal prefrence.

[Gideon's girl]

If the collar gets caught on something they usually twist which negates any pluses for keeping the collar loose. The best, solution is to take the collar off when you are at home. Laws about dogs having to wear tags usually specify that they must wear tags when out in public, not around home.

[simba]

I tend to be paranoid about it because so many dogs go missing near us, and no-one seems to check microchips. I've heard horror stories about dogs who ran when the house was burgled.

 

I suppose it's an example of the effect anectdotes and personal experience has on our estimations of probability- I've never seen a dog strangling itself with its collar or had it happen to people I know, but I've heard of/seen lots of lost dogs, so while I want to avoid both I assume the latter's more likely.

Possibly wrongly, I don't know.

 

Now my big problem is how to reassure my friend and persuade her not to re-adjust the collar. Ah, the joys of looking young and stupid...

[G. Festerling]

It is your dog! Anyone finds it appropriate to, against my expressed wishes, to adjust anything, may not stay on the friends list after too many oversteps.

 

The whole collar debate always reminds me of the seat belt debate. Know you make the best choice for you according to your research and believes and then be willing to back it up.

[geonni banner]

Simba

 

"Now my big problem is how to reassure my friend and persuade her not to re-adjust the collar."

 

G. Festerling

 

"It is your dog! Anyone finds it appropriate to, against my expressed wishes, to adjust anything, may not stay on the friends list after too many oversteps."

 

Yikes... Anyone who had the temerity to "re-adjust" my dog's collar - especially after being told not to - would get read the riot act.

[Gideon's girl]

I've only known 3 dogs to have been strangled by their collar. One jumped at a fence and caught its collar in a freak accident fashion, two were in their crates.

 

And I have known hundreds of dogs who got loose, one way or another, burglers not necessary. So I'll give you that.

[juliepoudrier]

I prefer for my dogs to wear their collars all the time, largely because I've had at least one get lost/take off on more than one occasion (she will bolt at the sound of thunder, even if she's in the fenced yard, and it's my belief that if someone sees a dog running and wearing a collar, they'll know it belongs to someone). We also walk across other properties between pastures, off leash, and I'm too trifling to want to put collars on 9 dogs before I head out the door. I have a friend whose dogs don't wear collars because she had a bad experience with a dog getting its jaw caught in another dog's collar. That said, when one of her dogs was staying here he wore a collar for safety's sake, should he have gotten lost.

 

I don't try to convince her to put collars on her dogs, and she doesn't try to convince me to take them off mine.

 

I say do what you're comfortable with. I tend to leave mine a bit looser because it's my personal preference. I don't like tight chokers around my neck, so I project those feelings on to my dogs and leave their collars looser rather than snugger. (I do want them to be able to pull over the dog's head, but not at the least provocation.)

 

I would be a bit pissed if someone else presumed to adjust (or remove) my dogs' collars. I think you just need to tell your friend "hands off." Politely, of course.

 

J.

[border_collie_crazy]

I say do what you're comfortable with. I tend to leave mine a bit looser because it's my personal preference. I don't like tight chokers around my neck, so I project those feelings on to my dogs and leave their collars looser rather than snugger. (I do want them to be able to pull over the dog's head, but not at the least provocation.)

 

 

exactly the same here, for the same reason lol the only exeption is Rusty, he wears his collar with the 2 finger rule, but thats because he is a jerk lol.

[Liz P]

I keep collars on my pets at all times. I also microchip. Why? Because it's rare for a pet to die from being strangled by their collar, but it is all to common for them to die alone and scared after being lost.

 

I also make sure those collars are tight enough that they will not slip over their necks, even if they struggle and try to back out of it.

 

The ID plates have 4 lines: REWARD, my name, my cell number and a family member's cell number. A person doesn't need your dogs name to get it back to you. If your address is on there and the dog is close, some people will just let it go and assume it will find its way back home. Reward motivates them to get the pet back to you safely. Your name can be used to track you down if for some reason they can't get in touch with you via the phone number provided.

 

JMHO.

[simba]

Sorry for posting and bringing this into 'active threads' again, but I was just thinking from reading over old threads on this board that plenty of people are willing to complain about tone, or 'rude' replies or whatever, but I find people on these boards overwhelmingly helpful, considerate, and very willing to spend time and effort giving advice to help strangers. And you don't see so many posts mentioning that, probably because it's usual.

 

So thank you to everyone for giving me such good advice, and taking the time to reply. It really helped reassure me. It's also comforting to know that had I been doing something as stupid as I feared, people would have had the consideration to tell me so forthrightly.

 

Thanks!

[juliepoudrier]

I just want to add an observation I made while setting sheep this weekend at a trial. When you're setting sheep, you see every dog come around at the top and pick up its sheep. Many of the collars were clearly loose (you could see space between the collar and the dog's neck). My dogs' collars look the same way. Granted, not all collars where that way, but plenty of them were!

 

J.